Physician Assistants

Physician assistants, also known as PAs, examine, diagnose, and treat patients under the supervision of a physician.

Duties

Physician assistants typically do the following:

• Obtain and review patients’ medical histories
• Examine patients
• Order and interpret diagnostic tests, such as x rays or blood tests
• Diagnose a patient’s injury or illness
• Provide treatment, such as setting broken bones, stitching wounds, and immunizing patients
• Educate and counsel patients and their families on a variety of issues, such as treatment and self-care for asthma
• Prescribe medication
• Assess and record a patient’s progress
• Research the latest treatments to ensure quality of patient care

Physician assistants are on teams with physicians or surgeons and other healthcare workers. The amount of collaboration and the extent to which they must be supervised by physicians or surgeons differ by state.

Physician assistants work in a variety of healthcare specialties, including primary care and family medicine, emergency medicine, and psychiatry. The work of physician assistants depends, in large part, on their specialty or the type of medical practice in which they work. For example, a physician assistant working in surgery may close incisions and provide care before, during, and after an operation. A physician assistant working in pediatrics may examine a child and give routine vaccinations.

In some areas, especially rural and medically underserved communities, physician assistants may be the primary care providers at clinics where a physician is present only 1 or 2 days per week. In these locations, physician assistants collaborate with the physician as needed and as required by law.

Some physician assistants make house calls or visit nursing homes to treat patients.

Physician assistants differ from nurse practitioners in their training and the level of care they provide; for example, nurse practitioners cannot provide surgical care, whereas physician assistants can. They also differ from medical assistants, who do routine clinical and clerical tasks but do not practice medicine.

Physician assistants held about 162,700 jobs in 2024. The largest employers of physician assistants were as follows:

Working with patients can be both physically and emotionally demanding. Physician assistants spend much of their time standing or walking to make rounds and evaluate patients. Physician assistants who work in operating rooms often stand for extended periods.

Work Schedules

Most physician assistants work full time. Work schedules vary and may include nights, weekends, or holidays. Physician assistants also may be on call, meaning that they must be ready to respond to a work request with little notice.

To enter the occupation, physician assistants typically need a master’s degree from an accredited program. All states require physician assistants to be licensed.

The median annual wage for physician assistants was $133,260 in May 2024.

Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 20 percent from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations.

About 12,000 openings for physician assistants are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.